- Steve Neal said that ‘genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations’ which meant certain generic features had to be included and repeated which in my case was the use of a creepy location of the woods as well as hand held camera and restricted narration to cause disorientation and suspense within our trailer.
- Editing and mise-en-scene is really important to genre and reflects very quickly certain moods and atmospheres.
- The generic conventions we chose to use were all important to the success of our product and since distributing it on YouTube we have over 4000 which I am really pleased with and gives me the confidence that we obviously stuck to the genre enough to capture our intended target audience but were creative enough to make people want to keep watching the trailer and virally sharing it with others.
- Genre places a media text into a grouping giving it an identity which can be recognised by the mainstream society and I believe my product is successfully fitted to the horror genre using the narrative that todorov argued was important to the horror genre by following an equilibrium.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Exempler Sentences
Exempler Essay-Question 1B
Explanation,Analysis,Argument
Example
Terminology
Opening Paragraph:The media production I am going to write about in relation to genre is my favourite piece from the whole course which is my horror teaser trailer.
The genre of the trailer is obviously ‘horror’ and this in itself allowed us to be creative with narrative etc but limited us because we had to stick to a certain amount of generic conventions in order for it to be recognised by it’s existing target audience. Steve Neal said that ‘genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations’ which meant certain generic features had to be included and repeated which in my case was the use of a creepy location of the woods as well as hand held camera and restricted narration to cause disorientation and suspense within our trailer. However, the pattern of variation Neal describes also links to my horror teaser trailer because we were able to creatively push the boundaries by twisting some generic features in order to make the trailer interesting and therefore cause the audience to want to watch the full movie. For this my group chose use a female psycho killer I order to subvert the stereotypical male dominated role. This female identification through point of view shots etc captured our female audience because were providing them with power and this is unusual for the horror genre although it is known for its forward thinking approach as it often attempts to focus on subcultural views instead of targeting the mainstream. Genre encompasses many parts and the trailer links to it in more ways than one. Its use of enclosed location and the fact the woods attempts to reinforce our society’s fear of loneliness and isolation which the woods creates when the three friends get lost. In these sections of the trailer we used a lot of heavy cross cutting between the female victim who is running anxiously through the woods in order to find her friends and get home safely. We also used the Kuleshove and collision cutting methods as the pace began slow as the friends head our in the car unaware of the danger before them and once they are in the woods we deliberately quickened the pace of editing to cause tension and to show that something is not right, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.
Editing and mise-en-scene is really important to genre and reflects very quickly certain moods and atmospheres. Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes argued that the horror genre like many others used ‘binary oppositions’ in order to show the contrast between good and evil in order to force the audience to be constantly questioning the trailer for example; in my trailer I used light and dark to connote their happiness and carefree attitude in the daytime and the darkness to emphasise their fear and reliance
on their senses. This is particularly important to the horror genre as characters are often shown in high angle shots to appear vulnerable and therefore under threat.
Gore or ‘body horror’ is also a common generic convention used by most horror films that we studied including Dawn of the Dead by George A. Romero who used it to make the audience feel sick by forcing them to see extreme violence. In my own trailer we were inspired to use gore differently by showing a hanging scene in slow motion to create tension and the centoring in on the face and neck which had been broken and this was shown by the rope burn we had made from latex and the blood pouring down her chest. This shot moves clockwise and slowly zooms in to force the audience to see what the hang (woman) has done. In our final two shots we finish the trailer with the male anti hero being lifted off the ground with blood pouring out of his mouth which causes the audience to assume no one survives because the final girl is stabbed by her friend accidentally which quickens the pace and adds tension but she is the survivor who as Carol Clover suggests will be terrorised throughout the film and finally overcome the monster. This plays with the audiences emotions and links back to the horror genre well by creating our own style of horror. Andrew Sarris argues because it encompasses so much and is key to explaining a film. Genre is the ideas that collectively make a particular recognisable style that draws in its existing target audience. My horror trailer had expressionist camera angles as the female victim desperately trips over the camera and we see her running above it as well as close ups of her facial expression that causes us to identify with her fear and therefore makes us scared. This meant the audience also were forced to objectify the female victim from the high angle camera shot down her top in which we can see her breasts slightly after watching other Hitchcock movies which use the male gaze theory by Laura Mulvey to force us to take a male’s viewpoint.
In my trailer we also used an iconic symbol of the noose because obviously as a hangwoman she needed the prop but also as a female the circular shape suggested female power and this is something the horror genre often does but for male characters using guns etc as phallic symbols which we also used as the male anti hero takes out a knife and stabs his friend frantically when she walks up behind him. The horror trailer was made much darker in Final Cut Pro using the brightness and contrast menu and also dragged the saturated colours towards the blue in order to create a dark, dusky night time atmosphere a generic convention of horror trailers.
The generic conventions we chose to use were all important to the success of our product and since distributing it on YouTube we have over 4000 which I am really pleased with and gives me the confidence that we obviously stuck to the genre enough to capture our intended target audience but were creative enough to make people want to keep watching the trailer and virally sharing it with others.
Genre places a media text into a grouping giving it an identity which can be recognised by the mainstream society and I believe my product is successfully fitted to the horror genre using the narrative that todorov argued was important to the horror genre by following an equilibrium at the beginning then a problem which in our case was the male anti hero playing a joke on the soon to be female victim making jump running after him causing their separation then a pathway to resolution – as they attempt to find each other and then a new equilibrium at the end which we deliberately left as an open ending to capture our audience effectively.
EAA 10
EG 10
Term 5
(24/25)
Total Section A 45/50
Monday, 14 March 2011
Question 1b – Essay Structure
Paragraph 1 Intro: which of your projects are you going to write about? Briefly describe it
Paragraph 2: what are some of the key features of the concept you are being asked to apply? maybe outline two of the theories/ideas of particular writers briefly
Paragraph 3: start to apply the concept, making close reference to your production to show how the concept is evident in it
Paragraph 4: try to show ways in which ideas work in relation to your production and also ways in which those ideas might not apply/could be challenged
Paragraph 5: conclusion
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Question 1B
- One Product
- Genre
- Representation
- Narrative
- Audience
- Media Language
Explantation, Analysis,Argument (10)
Examples (10)
Technology (5)
TOTAL=25
Tips
- Must reference themes that are appropriate.
- Use quotes.
- Reference to existing media texts (impact on research) that use the same techniques or practitioners.
- Clear opening paragraph that staes the concept as well as the product.
- Talk about all media areas but refer back to main concept being questioned.
Media Theories
Plato-The Cave Theory
The theory is about prisoners who are tied up in a cave so they can’t move; they can only move their eyes to look around. The prisoners are facing the cave wall. There is a walk way behind the prisoners with a fire and people who cast shadows upon the wall. A prisoner is realised and he can see the people and the fire that was behind him, he cannot understand this. This idea can be applied to technology as old people can’t keep up whereas the younger generation can as we have grown up with it. As children are always computer games, some start to believe these video games are reality and can’t tell the difference between fantasy and the real world. An example of this is the programme My Super Sweet 16 in which a spoilt teenager goes to visit a tribe and learns about a different way of living.
Judith Butler-The Queer Theory
Some people believe that everything comes from our gender. Judith Butler believes in unique identity and that gender studies/sexuality does not entirely shape you as a person. Butler teaches that everyone is individual. She says that we have created an idea of what is gender acceptable rather than our gender being from own biological sex. She says that by asking the question ‘who are you?’ it helps us to understand our own identity. Butler has come up with the queer theory which has a big impact on how people respond to gender identity. It focuses on how not everyone is conforming to the idea that gender is who we are. This is shown through sex changes and that people are now showing acceptance towards gay couples, as since 2005 in the UK there are now civil partnerships. In the 1980s homosexuality wasn’t shown. Programmes such as Ellen, Will and Grace and Queer as Folk were the first of many to come, to show homosexual characters. Queer Cinema came about in the 1990s and portrayed a number of different homosexual characters. Will and Grace is an example of the Queer Theory as Jack represents the typical stereotype of homosexuals which is camp, feminine and comfortable with his sexuality. Whereas Will is challenging conventions as he is almost represented as straight through his clothes and mannerisms.
Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist, who came up with the audience reception theory. He believes there are three ways to read a text. ‘Dominant or preferred reading’ which means the reader fully shares the text codes and accepts what they are reading, ‘Negotiated reading’ where the reader accepts some of the views presented but also has their own opinion and ‘Oppositional reading’ where the reader disagrees with the text and creates their own meaning from it. The other theory Hall came up with was of ‘polysemy’, it refers to a sign that has the ability to have multiple meanings. For example a black dress can be seen as a sign of mourning, an evening dress and inappropriate to wear to a wedding.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
This theory focuses on why people use media. During the 1960s the first generation to grow up with television was grownups so it became apparent to media theorists that audiences made choices based on upon some media texts. Audiences are made up of different individuals who consume texts for different reasons and in different ways. Laswell said that media texts had functions for individuals and society; these were surveillance, correlation, entertainment and cultural transmission. Bulmer and Katz came up with the theory that individuals might choose to view a text for different purposes. These purposes are diversion (escapism), personal relationships (using the media for emotional needs and interaction), personal identity and surveillance. The gratification theory suggests that media players take an active role in choosing and using the media. It says that the media user looks for media source to fulfil their needs. Since then the list has been extended, as new media has come along.
Post Modernism
A theory that came after modernism, it is a genre of art and literature. It came with the great change in the modern world. Specifically it is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problem of objective truth and suspicion towards global cultural narrative. It focuses on adventure and expression. An example of it is artists that use footage of the Nazi War crimes in their pop videos. There is a conflict between modernism and post-modernism, as post isn’t so sure of itself.
Discourse
The theory is about language point of view and the ideas embedded in what we do, say or think. It talks about the way we question/debate different subjects, from different sources of media. The contexts of language are either a company, small-meaning family/best friends or institutionalised-mass media.
Roland Barthes
He believes that all narratives share structural features which are brought together in different ways. He says that there is more than one ways to read a text and from a single text, we can get different meanings. To uncover these meanings, we must read a text more than once. Barthes says that we shouldn’t be controlled by a linear narrative. He came up with the idea of a ‘readerly’text which refers to a text with linear narrative structure, written a traditional style and manner. Contrasting this is ‘writerly’ which puts the reader in a position of control and can take an active role in determining the meaning of the text. Barthes also talks about the enigma code which is used to intrigue and draw in the audiences. He came up with a set of 5 codes, which is a way of grouping signifiers according to the role they play in a text. These are the voice of truth, empirics, person, symbol and knowledge. Reading a text with these codes allows you to see how the image remains the same but the meaning can change.
Jean Baudrillard-Hyper Reality
His theory is about post-modernism and post-structuralism. Hyper reality is the inability to differentiate reality from fantasy. For example young children go to Disneyland and believe that everything around them is real. Reality TV such as BB and the X Factor make people believe they can easily attain fame and fortune. Another example of this theory is gaming, where this type of media is consumed and takes over. It can provoke violent nature and some people then copy what they see in the video game and do the same thing in real life. (Copycat Theory) A film that uses Hyper-Reality is the Truman Show- as he is living a life that is false.
Cultural Imperialism
The theory is about how Western Nations dominate media around the world and affects other smaller cultures. In the 1960/70s small countries bought media from bigger western countries as they could not afford to make their own. Western Civilisation has a lot of money, so when 3rd world countries watch Western media they see what our lifestyle is like. They are influenced by what they say on screen and begin to live, believe and think like Western civilisations. This in turn ends up destroying the smaller cultures.
Marxism
Marxism is a modern socialist and communist ideology. Marxism is based upon a materialist interpretation of history. Taking the idea that social change occurs because of the struggle between different classes within society who are under contradiction one against the other, the Marxist analysis leads to the conclusion that capitalism, the currently dominant form of economic management, leads to the oppression of the proletariat, who not only make up the majority of the world's populace but who also spend their lives working for the benefit of the bourgeoisie, or the wealthy ruling class in society.
The theory is about prisoners who are tied up in a cave so they can’t move; they can only move their eyes to look around. The prisoners are facing the cave wall. There is a walk way behind the prisoners with a fire and people who cast shadows upon the wall. A prisoner is realised and he can see the people and the fire that was behind him, he cannot understand this. This idea can be applied to technology as old people can’t keep up whereas the younger generation can as we have grown up with it. As children are always computer games, some start to believe these video games are reality and can’t tell the difference between fantasy and the real world. An example of this is the programme My Super Sweet 16 in which a spoilt teenager goes to visit a tribe and learns about a different way of living.
Judith Butler-The Queer Theory
Some people believe that everything comes from our gender. Judith Butler believes in unique identity and that gender studies/sexuality does not entirely shape you as a person. Butler teaches that everyone is individual. She says that we have created an idea of what is gender acceptable rather than our gender being from own biological sex. She says that by asking the question ‘who are you?’ it helps us to understand our own identity. Butler has come up with the queer theory which has a big impact on how people respond to gender identity. It focuses on how not everyone is conforming to the idea that gender is who we are. This is shown through sex changes and that people are now showing acceptance towards gay couples, as since 2005 in the UK there are now civil partnerships. In the 1980s homosexuality wasn’t shown. Programmes such as Ellen, Will and Grace and Queer as Folk were the first of many to come, to show homosexual characters. Queer Cinema came about in the 1990s and portrayed a number of different homosexual characters. Will and Grace is an example of the Queer Theory as Jack represents the typical stereotype of homosexuals which is camp, feminine and comfortable with his sexuality. Whereas Will is challenging conventions as he is almost represented as straight through his clothes and mannerisms.
Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist, who came up with the audience reception theory. He believes there are three ways to read a text. ‘Dominant or preferred reading’ which means the reader fully shares the text codes and accepts what they are reading, ‘Negotiated reading’ where the reader accepts some of the views presented but also has their own opinion and ‘Oppositional reading’ where the reader disagrees with the text and creates their own meaning from it. The other theory Hall came up with was of ‘polysemy’, it refers to a sign that has the ability to have multiple meanings. For example a black dress can be seen as a sign of mourning, an evening dress and inappropriate to wear to a wedding.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
This theory focuses on why people use media. During the 1960s the first generation to grow up with television was grownups so it became apparent to media theorists that audiences made choices based on upon some media texts. Audiences are made up of different individuals who consume texts for different reasons and in different ways. Laswell said that media texts had functions for individuals and society; these were surveillance, correlation, entertainment and cultural transmission. Bulmer and Katz came up with the theory that individuals might choose to view a text for different purposes. These purposes are diversion (escapism), personal relationships (using the media for emotional needs and interaction), personal identity and surveillance. The gratification theory suggests that media players take an active role in choosing and using the media. It says that the media user looks for media source to fulfil their needs. Since then the list has been extended, as new media has come along.
Post Modernism
A theory that came after modernism, it is a genre of art and literature. It came with the great change in the modern world. Specifically it is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problem of objective truth and suspicion towards global cultural narrative. It focuses on adventure and expression. An example of it is artists that use footage of the Nazi War crimes in their pop videos. There is a conflict between modernism and post-modernism, as post isn’t so sure of itself.
Discourse
The theory is about language point of view and the ideas embedded in what we do, say or think. It talks about the way we question/debate different subjects, from different sources of media. The contexts of language are either a company, small-meaning family/best friends or institutionalised-mass media.
Roland Barthes
He believes that all narratives share structural features which are brought together in different ways. He says that there is more than one ways to read a text and from a single text, we can get different meanings. To uncover these meanings, we must read a text more than once. Barthes says that we shouldn’t be controlled by a linear narrative. He came up with the idea of a ‘readerly’text which refers to a text with linear narrative structure, written a traditional style and manner. Contrasting this is ‘writerly’ which puts the reader in a position of control and can take an active role in determining the meaning of the text. Barthes also talks about the enigma code which is used to intrigue and draw in the audiences. He came up with a set of 5 codes, which is a way of grouping signifiers according to the role they play in a text. These are the voice of truth, empirics, person, symbol and knowledge. Reading a text with these codes allows you to see how the image remains the same but the meaning can change.
Jean Baudrillard-Hyper Reality
His theory is about post-modernism and post-structuralism. Hyper reality is the inability to differentiate reality from fantasy. For example young children go to Disneyland and believe that everything around them is real. Reality TV such as BB and the X Factor make people believe they can easily attain fame and fortune. Another example of this theory is gaming, where this type of media is consumed and takes over. It can provoke violent nature and some people then copy what they see in the video game and do the same thing in real life. (Copycat Theory) A film that uses Hyper-Reality is the Truman Show- as he is living a life that is false.
Cultural Imperialism
The theory is about how Western Nations dominate media around the world and affects other smaller cultures. In the 1960/70s small countries bought media from bigger western countries as they could not afford to make their own. Western Civilisation has a lot of money, so when 3rd world countries watch Western media they see what our lifestyle is like. They are influenced by what they say on screen and begin to live, believe and think like Western civilisations. This in turn ends up destroying the smaller cultures.
Marxism
Marxism is a modern socialist and communist ideology. Marxism is based upon a materialist interpretation of history. Taking the idea that social change occurs because of the struggle between different classes within society who are under contradiction one against the other, the Marxist analysis leads to the conclusion that capitalism, the currently dominant form of economic management, leads to the oppression of the proletariat, who not only make up the majority of the world's populace but who also spend their lives working for the benefit of the bourgeoisie, or the wealthy ruling class in society.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
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